Language Magazine – Ty Tagami
“Bilinguals who can read and write in English and their native language, drop out of high school at lower rates, enter higher status occupations, and can earn more than those from immigrant backgrounds who only speak English according to a study carried out by the Civil Rights Project at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Educational Testing Service (ETS). “Balanced bilinguals,” those who understand, speak, read and write in both English and the language of the home: earn more – $2,000–$5,000 annually compared to their English-only peers; go to college at higher rates, which dramatically increases earnings; have more social networks. “Today’s young language minority population is unique; their experiences have made them distinct from previous generations, and not only with respect to their access to social media and entrance into a global economy,” says the report’s author Patricia Gándara, of the Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civilies at UCLA. “Children of immigrants today are coming of age in a majority-minority era. Their linguistic and cultural cache is becoming a greater part of the fabric of America, and employers increasingly prefer employees who can reach a wider client base and work collaboratively with colleagues across racial, ethnic and cultural lines.” Gándara’s report, “Is There Really a Labor Market Advantage to Bilingualism in the U.S.?,” draws upon new and different data sets and studies that follow young people (children of immigrants now in their late-20s and early-30s) just entering the labor market providing a more accurate measurement of bilingualism and “biliteracy” than have prior studies.”(more)